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Inquisitors
' Symbol'- A black eagle-dagger, on a red field. Prime Stats- IN/PR Skills The Inquisition get the following skills (note: this is instead of the first two levels development stage): Customary Garb The Inquisitors wear long crimson robes and cloaks, trimmed with yellow. When performing interrogations are executions, they wear long pointed hoods. Most of them wear a thick black leather cuirass, emblazoned with a yellow eagle-dagger. Special Requirements Only males may join the priesthood. Applicants must be devoutly religious, and usually a strict background search is conducted by the Inquisition on the individual. A minimum IN of 60 is required, and a PR of 50. Applicant must have channeling as his main realm, and not have access to any Essence or Mentalism spell-lists. Culture The Inquisition, despite their fierce reputation, are generally peaceful and passive. They are the priests of the Rhutalathian religion, and as such make vows never to harm those who do no wrong, nor to break laws. However, they deal with magicians and heathens ruthlessly and bloodily, and this has earned them a reputation of both fear and respect. Certain individuals, who enjoy the torture and execution aspects of their religion, also increase this ill-repute. As warrior-priests, they spend most of their time in the temples, worshipping Khanus, studying holy scripts, and usually re-writing sagas and epics from the past. They fulfill the usual roles of most priests, conducting masses and holy ceremonies, receiving confessions and ordaining over marriages and funerals. There are churches in every village and town, and usually at least one priest is resident here. Training for the priesthood takes place on the Isle of Tol Goroth, in one of the three main church-barracks (The Tower of Light, Kanak, or Khana), and is usually rigorous. It normally takes four years to become a priest, during which time the applicant will undergo studying, reading, fasting, and swearing of oaths. They are trained to be subservient to their teachers, as well as to their God, and are taught humility and humbleness. However, as well as learning the scripts, they are also trained in combat, as Inquisitors are often found in the frontlines ofany holy wars or skirmishes. The final year of training, if they have mastered channeling and other necessary skills, they will be introduced to torture and intimidation. Once training is complete, the student will gain the rank of brother, and must complete a two year apprenticeship with a fully-ordained priest, before being ordained himself. The ordained priest will the be given his own temple and parish to run. Restrictions There are no real age restrictions for priests, though the Inquisition prefer to start their training at a young age (about 16). Older members will be accepted, although frail initiates are often turned away, due to the rigorous nature of both the training and the job. Structure The Inquisition owe their allegiance to the Pope, who is the head of the church; the Pope runs the day to day administration of the church, though he is mostly a symbolic figure. Whilst the Pope can veto any decision, most of the real affairs are run by the Arch-Bishop. Ranks *Arch-Bishop (High Lord Inquisitor) *Bishop (Lord Inquisitor) *Arch-Deacon (High Inquisitor) *Deacon (Inquisitor) *Father (Ordained/ Priest) *Brother (Acolyte) Each Inquisitor has two ranks, originally based on the distinction between the clerics and paladins. However, those two sects have long since merged, and now the ranks are interchangable. The clerical rank is usually used by members of the public, or during official businesses and masses. The paladin rank is generally used between the priests. For example Jingo is known as Father Jingo by his parish citizens, and during masses, but is generally referred to as ‘Priest’ by his brethren. Once a brother has completed his apprenticeship, he is given a temple of his own to run, or occasionally share with another Priest. A priest who does well, or is very pious, will eventually be offered a larger temple, in a town or city, to make room in the smaller temples for the new Priests. In this case, the Priest will be referred to as Inquisitor, and reach the rank of Deacon. Most of the priesthood are happy to stay in these two ranks, doing good and running their own temples and parishes. A Deacon can, at any time, become an Errant- an Inquisitor who roams the nearby lands, searching for evil, witchcraft are general sin. This is the typical image of an Inquisitor, patrolling the cities for signs of sorcery, putting conspirators to the Question. In this case, a Deacon often takes an apprentice Brother to look after the parish affairs whilst he is away. The higher ranks are more limited in number, and are often offered, rather than asked for. These positions are usually only fulfilled when the original holder of the rank dies, and a vacancy is opened. The Arch-Deacons, rather than run just one parish, are in charge of an entire area (Decain), usually of at least five or six parishes. Although they usually run the decain from one particular temple, they often travel from parish to parish, assisting the Deacons. Most Arch-Deacons are Errants, and are titled after the decain they rule over (e.g. The Arch-Deacon of Eivana). The next rank is the Bishop, who is responsible for an entire county. Naturally, they rule over several Deacons and hundreds of priests. The Arch-Deacon is less-likely to be an Errant, except in extreme cases or emergencies, and is usually to be found in the High Temple of the duchy, or serving as the Duke’s advisor. He rarely performs menial taska, such as weddings, unless the family is very important. The highest rank is the Arch-Bishop, which is always the Sovereign-King of Rhutalath. Like the Pope, this title is usually hereditary (though not as honourary as that of Pope), and it passes to his son in the event of his death. The current Arch-Bishop of Rhutalath is King Don Zamerigo Jiego Mendoza II. Philosophy/Purpose The Inquisitors follow the Teaching of Khanus, and the Khanusan religion. Whilst the scriptures are too vast to be described here, the basic philosophy is that of Goodwill to all men. The Inquisitors are, generally peaceful and passive, rarely greedy are avaricious, and usually humble. The greatest sins to them are violence and murder (to an innocent), disbelieving in Khanus or worshipping another God, and showing any kind of contempt to another Worshipper. They also believe that someone who remains true to these ideals will, when they die, go the Menela (Heaven), to reside with Khanus, and his son Kalnus. Those who do not will go to Utuma (Hell), to reside with Balzot in eternal damnation. The Inquisition believe completely in these teachings, and will try their best to redeem the souls of their parishers, and give them salvation. They will forgive sins on behalf of their worshippers, should they confess them, and do their best to settle disputes and make peace. Their ultimate goal is to make everyone get along, and to get all into Heaven; their defining philosophy is love. However, there is a dark-side to the Inquisition. The holy book, the Khanusani, states that meddling with magic is wrong, evil, and going against the Khanusan belief. It also states that Elves are devoutly evil, having been created by the Earth itself, rather than Khanus. This, combined with their hatred of heathens, has given the Inquisition a lot of prejudices. Their main goal, after the salvation of souls, is to cleanse Rhutalath of those who bring evil to the land. Magicians and Elves are hunted with a passion throughout the country, and an Inquisitor will often track one for months, but hundreds of people to the Question just to get their prey. When caught, an magician will be offered a chance to repent, and to give up his powers (a painful procedure performed by the Inquisition, draining all magic from them), confess, and reveal any other magic users in the area. A magician who does so is often released- those who don’t will be tortured for information, and often executed. An Elf is seldom offered a chance at redemption, being inherently evil. Instead they will be tortured for information, and usually imprisoned before being executed. Heathens are, smoetimes, tolerated, so long as they don’t preach against Khanus. But a heathen can be sure of several hundred long lectures on the error of his ways. With all these cases, an Inquisitor does not go out of his way to cause trouble. They believe that heathens can do what they want, as long as they’re not in Rhutalath. The religion of Rhutalath is law, and in a sense anyone who can wield essence is breaking that law. The priesthood believe they have the right to punish offenders, just as the Ardanians will hang those who conspire at treason. If you don’t want to be executed, don’t come into Rhutalath- you’re free to practice your heathen beliefs in your own country. As well as the hunting and Questioning of heathens and minions of darkness, the Inquisiton perform more mundane tasks such as weddings, namings and funerals, as well as blessings and masses. When not hunting, they are similar to priests of many countries, acting as ambassadors for their God, as well as a counsellor for those with needs. Most Inquisitors are well-loved and respected, even if they are also feared. Only a few break their trust, by using the power for their own ends. Inquisitors, in their wisdom, believe that all men (save magicians) are equal, even if some are misguided. Priests of other religions are tolerated, for their peaceful ways and wisdom, though they are frowned upon as unholy. Dark Spawn such as Orcs and Trolls, are believed to be demons of Balzot, the Diablo, and so are killed on sighting. Holy Days The Rhutalathians are extremely religious, and every day is dedicated to one saint or another. Different regions celebrate their own holidays and saints, and nearly every week there is a large fiesta somewhere. However, their greatest holy day is Masskalo, on the 31st December, which is the day when Kalnus was believed to have been born. The day is filled with solemn praying and massing, whilst the night time is filled with partying and dancing. Two other important days are the Ascension (1st April), when Kalnus finally ascended to Menela, and Habilla, on the 31st October, which is apparently when Khanus lets the souls of all those who died return to Earth for one night, to spread their wisdom, and communicate with loved ones. Habilla is a day of dread for most people, although many go to the Churches to try and commune with the recently departed. Talent Points Deacon= 20 Arch-Deacon= 40 Owed favour by important person= 10 Know an important secret= 15 Holy Relic (belonging to a saint, etc.)= 50 Spell-Lists Inquisitors have access to all Channeling lists, Paladin lists, and Witch-Hunter lists. Category:Inquisition Category:Groups Category:Religion Category:Clerics Category:Rhutalath Category:Khanusan